Hackathon participants will brainstorm ideas, design prototypes and present solutions that will help further the smart city concept, which focuses on using emerging technologies to enhance a city’s performance and well-being, reduce costs and resource consumption, and engage more effectively and actively with its residents. The Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center at UAB carries a similar mission, operating as an enabling platform for interdisciplinary collaboration to understand and transform the impact of urbanization at the scientific, economic and human levels.

Teams at the hackathon will compete for two prizes, and the two winning local groups will have two additional weeks to work on their prototypes to compete for an international prize.

The event will be held at Alabama Media Group in downtown Birmingham. Learn more about Alabama’s Global Smart Cities Hackathon and register online.

Birmingham Mayor William Bell will introduce this year’s program, which will address a number of sustainability-centered topics, including economic development, energy conservation and innovation, smart sensors and technologies, and green architecture and construction, plus the health and livability of cities.

“We are fortunate to live in a city that is striving for change that will help stabilize neighborhoods and lead to sustainable growth for decades to come,” said Fouad H. Fouad, Ph.D., director of the UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center and chair of the Department of Civil Construction and Environmental Engineering. “UAB is committed to playing an important role in our city’s growth by offering events such as this symposium. It will help city leaders learn from each other and experts from around the world who have experience building and sustaining a healthy city.”

“UAB is committed to playing an important role in our city’s growth by offering events such as this symposium. It will help city leaders learn from each other and experts from around the world who have experience building and sustaining a healthy city.”

The event, which aims to find sustainable ways to revitalize cities worldwide, will feature speakers from the local area and other U.S. cities and international locations to share ideas that will be geared toward improving Birmingham and other cities in the region.

In her keynote address, Barbara McCann, director of the Office of Safety, Energy & Environment for the Office of the U.S. Secretary of Transportation, will examine “Complete Streets: The Transition to Safe and Inclusive Transportation Networks.”

Other discussion topics and featured speakers include:

Urban Revitalization

John Adlen, director of the Office of Sustainability at Staffordshire University in the United Kingdom, “Sustainable Smart Cities: What’s Happening in Europe”

The Smarter Cities Challenge grant contributes the skills and expertise of IBM’s top talent to help cities address critical issues. During the past three years, 100 cities have been selected to receive grants, with contributions valued at more than $50 million.

“In Birmingham, the team will work closely with city leaders and the UAB Sustainable Smart Cities Research Center to develop strategies to reverse problems with abandoned or deteriorating properties and food deserts,” said Fouad Fouad, Ph.D., director of the SSCRC and chair of the UAB Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering. “By focusing on those two areas, we can lay the groundwork for change that will help stabilize neighborhoods and lead to sustainable, healthy growth for decades to come.”

The Smarter Cities Challenge grant contributes the skills and expertise of IBM’s top talent to help cities address critical issues. During the past three years, 100 cities have been selected to receive grants, with contributions valued at more than $50 million.

The UAB SSCRC signed a memorandum of understanding with the City of Birmingham in February 2013 to partner on projects that would help make a more livable city. In October, the city and the SSCRC submitted the application for the IBM Smarter Cities Challenge in an attempt to continue the momentum already started through the original MOU.

By addressing the problems of derelict properties and food deserts, the IBM team will contribute to the core goal of making Birmingham more livable — a broad term that could have far-reaching implications.

“A city striving for higher-quality living conditions that are affordable across a wide range of incomes will create business and job opportunities for a diverse, balanced community,” said Iwan Alexander, Ph.D., dean of the School of Engineering. “We’ve learned through the years that that is a healthy environment for long-term growth. But how do you keep it that way? It is a question of balancing resource-consumption with our ability to create or supply those resources necessary to build and sustain a healthy city. That’s why sustainability is so important. You have to satisfy the needs of the present without sacrificing the future health of the community.”

Birmingham is one of four cities in the United States to receive the IBM grant for 2014, joining Dallas, Texas; Baton Rouge, La.; and Suffolk County, N.Y.

The ASC continues its mission of curating and creating diverse arts events for the community with the Nite Market and Werner’s “Hayseed Project” on Saturday, July 20, 2013, at the ASC, 1200 10th Ave. South.

Werner grew up on a family farm in eastern Iowa where her parents still farm. Commissioned by the Lied Center for Performing Arts at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, Werner’s concept album is all about farming and food sustainability. For this unique concert experience at 7:30 p.m., Werner will present her collection of original, meaningful songs that celebrate American farmers. Edwin Marty, E.A.T. (Educate. Act. Transform.) South executive director and Alabama Sustainable Agricultural Network board president, will open the evening event with comments about Alabama farms and sustainability today. Tickets for all seats are $32.50. For tickets to Werner’s performance, or for questions, call 205-975-2787 or visit www.AlysStephens.org.

Prior to Werner’s concert, the ASC Nite Market will be held from 4-7 p.m. on the outdoor Engel Plaza. Browse and buy produce from local farmers markets including Pepper Place Saturday Market, Jones Valley Teaching Farm and the UAB Wellness Veggie Cart. Admission to the market is free. Enjoy live music from the Jason Bailey Trio, food from Jim ‘N Nick’s Bar-B-Q and craft brews from Good People Brewing Co.; hear “seed planting” talks by local craft brewers, coffee roasters and innovative growers; and play bocce ball or croquet with Green Central Station. Bottega Restaurant and Café will give a canning demonstration. Kids can create garden collages and edible sculptures, as well as learn about animals and plant species in the ArtPlay Kids’ Courtyard. Guests attending the ticketed performance can purchase Nite Market veggies without worry, as the ASC will offer a “veggie check” for market purchases at the door before the show.

At 1 p.m., families can enjoy a free Garden Art workshop at ArtPlay, 1006 19th St. South. At 3:30 p.m., Werner will discuss the Hayseed Project and her songwriting style in a free ArtPlay Clinic at the ASC.

Jose Holguin-Veras, Ph.D., who helped implement Manhattan’s Off-Hour Delivery Truck Program, will explain how limiting freight deliveries from 7 p.m. to 6 a.m. gives the city an estimated economic savings of $100-200 million. Richard Michos, a global vice president with IBM, will discuss how his company’s Smarter Cities Challenge helps 100 cities address critical challenges. Wouter Schik with Arcadis in The Netherlands will explain how real sustainable cities are not based on the number of Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) building or neighborhoods, but the continuous process of transformation.

After lunch, there will be a panel discussion, “Birmingham’s Potential as a Sustainable Smart City,” featuring Catherine Sloss Jones, president and CEO of Sloss Real Estate, and Iwan Alexander, Ph.D., incoming dean UAB School of Engineering, among others. The event will be held at the Double Tree Hotel Birmingham at 808 20th Street South.

The City of Birmingham and the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) took a major step toward smarter, healthier and more sustainable development with the Feb. 27, 2013, signing of a memorandum of understanding (MOU) to partner on projects such as energy efficiency and city planning that accounts for a more “livable” city.

“Everyone wants to have a smart city,” Birmingham Mayor William Bell said at the signing ceremony in UAB’s Alumni House. “We want to create a green city with bike paths and proper sidewalks. We are beginning that process tonight.”

UAB President Ray L. Watts said, “There is no question that the success and vitality of UAB is inextricably linked to the success and vitality of Birmingham. UAB has a role to play in community service, and we want to make sure that the breadth and depth of UAB’s expertise is brought to bear to help our community.”

Mona Fouad, M.D., is the director of the MHRC and director of UAB’s division of Preventive Medicine in the Department of Medicine,

“In order for cities like Birmingham to play a role in improving the health of its citizens, we have to think in innovative ways,” Fouad said. “We have to include engineering to help us design, businesses for business development, policy makers and health practitioners.”

Watts described a healthier city as one that is also economically stronger.

“At UAB, we want to drive economic development for our community,” Watts said. “We would like to see a knowledge-based and technology-based economy in Birmingham and across Alabama.”

A group of about 50 attended the signing ceremony as a prelude to the MHRC’s annual research symposium. Hugh Barton, M.Phil., emeritus professor of Planning, Health and Sustainability at the University of West England in Bristol, England, and a special advisor to the World Health Organization, presented a keynote speech about creating neighborhoods for health and health equity.

More details of the MOU will be discussed April 3, 2013, at the Sustainable Smart Cities research symposium.